Disabled woman loses her mobility
Terri Holloway has been getting little sympathy after her two-week-old, $10,000 government-paid wheelchair was stolen Aug. 9 outside a Vanier store.
Holloway, 58, left it on the sidewalk because DTM Electronics at 240 Montreal Rd., near the LCBO outlet, wasn’t wheelchair-accessible. She needed to climb about five steps to get inside. It was around 1:30 p.m.
Holloway says she couldn’t have been in the store 10 minutes. But that was enough time for some crud to ride off in the batterypowered wheelchair or possibly load it onto a vehicle and drive away — though it would have been awfully heavy.
It’s bad enough she no longer has the wheelchair — Holloway suffers from a variety of crippling illnesses and can’t stand on her feet for more than a few minutes.
What’s worse is she won’t get a new one through the assistive devices program of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Ministry spokesman David Jensen says, “Clients must take responsibility for any costs to replace lost, stolen or damaged devices and supplies, and to repair any devices or supplies damaged due to the neglect or wilful misconduct of the client, family or friends.”
“Clients,” Jensen says in an email, “are encouraged to purchase private insurance to protect their assistive devices in the event of loss, theft or damage.”
An occupational health therapist who assists the disabled in getting such devices says leaving wheelchairs unattended makes them a big mark for thieves — and presumably more so if they are brand spanking new.
She also says she encourages clients to take out insurance on their assistive devices. If they can’t afford insurance, she says the Ontario Disability Support Program, from which Holloway draws benefits, will even help them pay for it.
Holloway says it was never suggested to her that she buy insurance. And, she adds, she was told only after the theft about a control on the machine that, if engaged, would have had the thief going around in circles.
The therapist says the province has become more tight-fisted with assistive devices such as wheelchairs and scooters.
Some clients use them as cars, going everywhere without the assistance of public transportation, and run the machines into the ground prematurely.
Thieves, who can quickly sell the stolen goods, even on the Internet, are also becoming a problem. The therapist says there has been a spate of wheelchair and scooter thefts in Ottawa.
Regardless, Holloway’s needs are significant enough that she cannot be without a wheelchair. She suffers from fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue and severe back problems that required surgeries and made it difficult for her to walk. She also suffers from bronchitis and asthma, and, a few weeks ago, was told she likely has lung cancer.
Holloway has to undergo more tests on Sept. 3. She says she has been in hospital emergency rooms four times in the past three weeks.
Holloway lost her husband, Peter, to a heart attack at the age of 54 in May 2012. Peter had also been HIVpositive since the 1980s. Holloway says the AIDS virus had nothing to do with his fatal heart attack, though Peter felt three major heart attacks he suffered prior to his death were the result of the stress and ridicule he faced from having the virus.
The couple was featured in a Public Citizen story in 2010 when they were looking for a wheelchair-accessible apartment through social housing.
Holloway was storing her wheelchair in a shed as they lived in an upstairs apartment on McLeod Street.
Her husband did not often venture outside as climbing the stairs caused angina.
“All I want is a place with an elevator, a balcony and a laundry room,” Peter said at the time.
Holloway was placed in a highrise bachelor unit on Donald Street last year following Peter’s death. The building has an elevator but her small apartment is not wheelchair-accessible once she gets past her door.
Holloway understands why the government would be reluctant to give her another wheelchair, considering the cost. “(But) it’s not my fault,” says Holloway. “I didn’t park it outside, put a sign on it that said, Take Me.”
Holloway reported the theft to Ottawa police but says she would not press charges if the wheelchair was returned. “Sitting at home 24/7 isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.”
Holloway did get some good news Friday. Canada Care Medical, which knew about Holloway’s plight as it supplied her last wheelchair, called to say that it would be dropping off a used one.
A customer buying a new wheelchair at Canada Care asked that her old chair be given to Holloway after a salesperson told her what happened. Holloway did not know what shape it was in and was told she would be responsible for any repairs. She was excited at the sudden turn of events, but was still hoping for her wheelchair to turn up.
Holloway’s wheelchair is a Quickie XPerience. It has a yellow frame, black seat and backpack. Before it was stolen, there was reflective yellow-and-black tape on the wheel covers. There was also a reflective Canadian flag sticker on the back bottom of the chair as well as a Maple Leaf banner on a white flagpole. A headlight was attached to the left armrest. Holloway also had a sign on the back of her chair that said: “Witch Crossing. Trespassers will be Toad.”